Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

December 22, 2016 By Fausta

Cuba: Persecuting the Ladies In White

Carlos Eire posts a Normalization Circus Update: More abuse heaped upon Ladies in White (emphasis added)

Okay, okay, time to spell it out:

Ever since Mr. Obama visited the Castro Kingdom, King Raul has not allowed any dissidents to stage public protests.

His new tactic is to arrest potential protesters before they are able to raise their voices in public.

The change has been as abrupt as it has been obvious.

While King Raul waited for the lifting of sanctions, he allowed dissidents to be somewhat visible.

As soon as sanctions were lifted, King Raul no longer had to pretend to be a somewhat nice guy.

The once-somewhat- visible Ladies in White are now totally invisible virtual prisoners in their homes, instantly rounded up and roughed up the instant they step out their doors.

And ever since the European Union signed its Carte Blanche deal with King Raul, the repression has been increasing at an alarming rate.

A couple of years ago, I was in Rick Moran’s podcast with Jazz Shaw and Doug Mataconis, where Jazz and Doug approved of Obama’s Cuba policy “because what we have been doing about Cuba hasn’t worked,” ignoring the fact that the regime’s goal is to consolidate power around itself. Lifting sanctions has availed the regime of financial resources it previously lacked, further facilitating that purpose.

Small surprise, then, that Our new relationship with Cuba doesn’t seem to have changed much of anything.

As Capt. Louis said,

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Filed Under: Carlos Eire, Communism, Cuba Tagged With: Capt. Louis Renault, Damas de Blanco, Fausta's blog, Ladies in White

November 28, 2016 By Fausta

Cuba: Increased repression following Fidel’s death

For the first time in 13 years, the Ladies in White did not march on a Sunday

The Ladies in White say the decision is to avoid tensions.

They have reason to worry,

Group leader Berta Soler told the Agence France-Presse news agency that they didn’t expect much to change in Cuban politics in the near future, as Castro’s brother Raul continues to lead the country. He took over when Fidel Castro fell ill in 2006.

“It will be the same Cuba with one dictator instead of two. The dictator Fidel Castro died and the dictator Raul Castro remains,” said Soler.
Dissidents also laid low in Santiago de Cuba, the eastern city where Castro’s ashes will be laid to rest next Sunday.

“We won’t conduct any actions against the regime in the streets in the next days, especially out of concern for the repression we could face,” said former prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer.

Cuban Artist and Activist El Sexto Abducted and Detained in Cuba Following Fidel Castro’s Death (emphasis added)

According to Maldonado’s mother, Maria Victoria Machado Gonzalez, he was beaten and dragged across the floor as he was brought to a police unit in San Agustin on 51st Avenue and 240th Street. But there have been no official charges released, and there is no record of Maldonado’s detention.
. . .
Maldonado’s abduction came hours after the official news that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro died at the age of 90. Other known activists such as the Ladies in White have stated they will not be out on the street for their weekly human rights protest on Sunday mornings. Civic activists with the group Hugo Damian Prieto Blanco and Jose Diaz Silva have also been taken into custody. Their locations are not known.

Mary O’Grady:
For Cubans, the Long Wait Is Over

The moment has arrived. Yet the prospects for their liberation are still not great.

They are now ruled by the dead red’s 85-year-old brother Raúl, and behind him are the next generation of Castros and the military. This ruthless band of criminals owns everything on the island and has no incentive to change. President Obama’s normalization of relations and de facto lifting of the U.S. travel ban has funneled fresh resources to them, strengthening their power.

Ted Cruz was on This Week,

UPDATE
Joel Hirst: The Untold Story of Cuba

Forget the gulags and the concentration camps and the firing squads. Those are the stories that made the papers at least – stories that were told. No – the most important part of this tragedy is not what happened, but what didn’t happen. The novels that were not written, stories of beach and mountain and freedom and loss; the beautiful paintings that did not come to be, which in turn did not inspire abounding love – the love of storybooks. The cuisine that was not refined; the businesses that did not provide for families; inventions that do not help humanity; diseases that were not cured.

The life that was not lived.

This – for me – is the greatest tragedy of all. We have this life at our fingertips, those of us from America. To a greater measure than others; but even those from Panama, or Chile, or Paraguay can see that which they wish to attain. They can uncork the $1000 bottle of wine and dream of the day they will sit in front of the sheer white tablecloth and drink deeply. They can read the novel, and imagine how they would make the stories unfold, improving them. They can look at the girl across their own malecon and imagine how they will win their fortune and then come for her.

None of these things have been imagined – for six generations – in Cuba.

A Monster and his Suck-Ups

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Filed Under: Communism, Cuba Tagged With: Berta Soler, El Sexto, Fausta's blog, Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco, José Díaz Silva, Ladies in White

April 28, 2015 By Fausta

Cuba: How’s that “easement” going?

Pres. Obama announced on December 17, 2014 an easing of U.S. relations with Cuba

that will engage and empower the Cuban people.

Four months and a few days later, how’s that working out so far?

Castro police arrest more than 100 Ladies In White, other activists as they leave Havana church

#Cuba This Sunday more than 50 @DamasdBlanco and activists were arrested when leaving Santa Rita Church after Mass in #Havana

— Yoani Sanchez (@yoanifromcuba) April 26, 2015

The Ladies in White have been attacked continuously every Sunday since Dec. 17.

How about the conditions of political prisoners?

Cuban secret policeman to hunger striker’s mother: ‘If he dies, it’s not our problem’

The Dec. 17 WH website statement was titled A Failed Approach.

Prescience.

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Filed Under: Barack Obama, Communism, Cuba Tagged With: Damas de Blanco, Fausta's blog, How’s that “easement” going?, Ladies in White, Yuriet Pedroso

October 27, 2014 By Fausta

The return of the Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean

LatinAmerAfter skipping a week because of unpacking, the Carnival’s back, while the unpacking’s not finished.

Brazil and Uruguay held presidential elections yesterday. Voters went for the same old, same old.

ARGENTINA
Life terms for Argentina jail crimes
An Argentine ex-police chief and ex-interior minister are among 15 people given life sentences for involvement in a torture centre in the 1970s.

BRAZIL
Why is Dilma Hiding Business Deals With Cuba?

Boa sorte, Brasil

Brazil poll shows Neves leading election, at odds with major surveys

Dilma Rousseff’s dizzy spell live on TV after presidential debate
Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil, was briefly taken ill on Thursday at the end of a bruising political debate with presidential rival Aecio Neves

In Brazil’s Election, a Stark Vote on the Nation’s Economy

CHILE
Bomb That Killed Man in Chile Meant to Blow Up Prison Guard Building

COLOMBIA
Alexander Beltran Herrera, US judge sentences Farc commander
A US judge has sentenced an ex-Colombian rebel to 27 years in prison for his role in the kidnapping of three American citizens in 2003.

Marcos de Jesus Figueroa, alias “Maquitos Figueroa,” Colombian Drug Lord Captured in Brazil Wanted for 100 Murders

COSTA RICA
Solís a Trojan Horse for Socialism in Costa Rica
Relationships Bloom with Trade Unions, University Students, Chavistas

CUBA
Religious persecution disguised by Castro regime as a crackdown on “criminal” activities

Cuban Ladies In White, other activists arrested as they support political prisoner Sonia Garro

Must-Read: Are Cuba and Brazil Partners in Human Trafficking?

Cuban Docs Should be Banned from Ebola Fight, Restrict US-Cuba Flights

Quote of the day: “I have loved justice and hated iniquity; therefore I die in exile.”

ECUADOR
HRW Criticizes Correa for Applauding Police Abuse During Protests

HONDURAS
Just Say No to Presidential Reelection in Honduras
Too Many “Necessary” Men in Latin America

MEXICO

Mexico’s Burgeoning Wine Scene
Mexico may be best known for its beer and tequila, but that’s slowly changing as its wines are finding their way onto restaurant wine lists and specialist shops.

Amado Yáñez shows up at the burn-out unit (in Spanish):

PANAMA
If Panama’s Anti-Corruption Hunt Continues, Miami Should Watch Out

PARAGUAY
Report Oil Found in Paraguay; Gov’t Cautious

PERU
Health Care Workers in Peru Go on Strike

PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico needs a financial control board

URUGUAY
POLL NUMBERS!!! Uruguay election this weekend

Uruguay Leader’s Party Fights to Retain Rule After Vote
President José ‘Pepe’ Mujica popularity isn’t enough to guarantee victory for the center-left Broad Front coalition that has ruled for a decade, according to polls and political analysts.

VENEZUELA
Dakazo 2 and Technocrats

How Bad Are Things In Venezuela? It’s Rationing Food – And Importing Oil

Venezuela seizes warehouses packed with medical goods, food

The 61% Devaluation That Venezuela Told No One About

The week’s posts and podcast:
Elections: No change in Brazil, Uruguay

Friday afternoon tap dancing priests

Argentina: Creeping to the edge

Venezuela: Mileposts on the highway to hell

Cuba: NYT goes Duranty on ebola

Venezuela: Happy Halloween! Hugo Chavez M&Ms

Immigration: Obama to allow in 100,000 Haitians with no visas

At Da Tech Guy’s blog:
What may be the most consequential election of the decade

Mexico: The death of #Felina

The curious incident of the Carnival Magic in Belize UPDATED

The Synod and the Pope-A-Dope

In Silvio Canto’s podcast:
The elections in Brazil with Monica Showalter of Investor’s Business Daily.

Posts from the prior week:
In transit, again

Venezuela and the falling oil price UPDATED

Venezuela wins U.N. Council seat

Eichmann’s true nature: 2 reviews of “Eichmann Before Jerusalem: The Unexamined Life of a Mass Murderer”

Mexico: #Ayotzinapa backlash in Mexico Bronco

Could Mexico become the next Russia?



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Filed Under: Argentina, Brazil, Carnival of Latin America, Carnival of Latin America and the Caribbean, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela Tagged With: Alexander Beltran Herrera, Amado Yáñez, ebola, Fausta's blog, Ladies in White, Marcos de Jesus Figueroa a.k.a. “Maquitos Figueroa, Paco Almaraz, Sonia Garro

November 9, 2013 By Fausta

Obama makes campaign stop, meets Coco & Berta

after a $32,000/plate dinner, With Charlie Crist as guest, President Obama raises cash in Miami, chats with Cuban dissidents Guillermo “Coco” Fariñas and Berta Soler.

Florida’s newest high-profile Democrat, former Gov. Charlie Crist, was spotted at the Segovia Tower in Coral Gables at a $32,000-a-head fundraiser hosted by personal injury attorney Ralph G. Patino.

Obama moved next to a fundraiser hosted by Jorge Mas Santos, a Cuban American National Foundation leader and CEO of MasTec. There, the president thanked Mas Santos, who stood next to him, and singled out Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.

Obama told two of Cuba’s leading dissidents in South Florida that he admires their sacrifices, a rare White House recognition of the peaceful opposition on the communist-ruled island.

“The most important thing here was the recognition by the president of the United States, the most powerful democracy in the world,” dissident Guillermo Farinas said minutes after the meeting.

The other dissident is Berta Soler, of the Ladies in White.

Speaking by the pool of Mas Santos’ house, Obama said his policy of supporting civil society in Cuba is beginning to show results, but that Washington must continue to be “creative and thoughtful” in its policies.

Results, you say? Cuban human rights monitor reports 763 political arrests in October.

Just last week Fariñas was beaten up by a mob in his hometown of Santa Clara, Cuba.

If you like your policy of supporting civil society in Cuba, you can keep it. Period.


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Filed Under: Barack Obama, Communism, Cuba, Democrats, Florida Tagged With: Berta Soler, Charlie Crist, Damas de Blanco, Fausta's blog, Guillermo Fariñas, Jorge Mas Santos, Ladies in White

May 9, 2013 By Fausta

Lady in White met Pope in white

Cuban dissident Berta Soler, leader of the Ladies in White, was able to exchange greetings with Pope Francis yesterday at the end of a general audience held in St. Peter’s Square

Soler handed the pope two letters from the wives of political prisoners, according to the French news agency AFP. Soler later told the media that the pope had given her a blessing and asked her to continue her fight.

Carlos Eire points out that

It may seem like an insignificant encounter to some, but this is a big deal, and the rulers of the Castro Kingdom will gnash their teeth when they see this photo. The Cuban flag draped between the two figures in white will be a great irritant to the tyrants, because they refuse to accept the fact that Cuba belongs to all Cubans, not just to their slave-drivers and those slaves who agree to submit to the lash. .

So, even though this was a brief encounter, it delivers a potent message.

It’s definitely an improvement over the prior pope’s refusal to meet them while he was in Cuba.


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Filed Under: Carlos Eire, Catholic Church, Communism, Cuba, Pope Francis I Tagged With: Berta Soler, Damas de Blanco, Ladies in White

May 6, 2013 By Fausta

Cuba: Racism in the revolución

Mary O’Grady interviewed Berta Soler,

Havana in Black and White
Dissident Berta Soler takes a big risk by telling the truth about racism and repression in Cuba.

Now Ms. Soler is taking advantage of the dictatorship’s new travel policy—that for the first time in a half-century allows Cubans to take trips abroad—to ask the international community for “moral and spiritual support” for the Cuban people in their struggle against the dictatorship.

She wants the world to know of Castro’s racism. Blacks, she says, are grossly underrepresented in the universities and overrepresented in prisons. “The beggars in Cuba are black, not white. The marginalized are blacks, not whites.” She adds: “They tell me ‘Negra, what are you doing? You have a lot to thank the revolution for!'”

Repression is on the rise, and in the absence of international condemnation the regime feels free to administer publicly the beatings the Ladies in White endure in order to show who’s boss. The regime used to send women only to attack the Ladies but now they send men as well. They punch the Ladies with the clear intent to hurt them. They sometimes break bones.

Ms. Soler says that these attackers “never have been neighbors” spontaneously defending the glorious revolution. They are professionals working for the Interior Ministry or civilians who obey the regime in order to keep their jobs or their place in university classrooms. Ms. Soler says that for the past two years many of “the same faces” have consistently shown up to attack the group. The woman who bit Laura Pollan is well known by the Ladies because she is a regular on the goon squad and works for the ministry.

It is chilling to think what might happen to the politically incorrect Ms. Soler when she returns to Cuba, which is what makes her trip to Rome this week so crucial.

Lady in White Belkis Cantillo was beaten, arrested, and taken away the week after returning to Cuba.

She has asked to see Pope Francis. If he agrees, the visit might protect her. Without it, and in the absence of other influential international voices coming to her defense, her fate is less certain.

I’m not counting on the Pope.

Too bad Beyonce and Jay-Z couldn’t drop by, though.

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Filed Under: Communism, Cuba Tagged With: Belkis Cantillo, Berta Soler, Damas de Blanco, Fausta's blog, Ladies in White, Laura Pollan

April 29, 2013 By Fausta

Cuba’s message to dissidents: You had your trip, now we’re coming after you


Belkis Cantillo, second from the left.

Cuba’s Communist regime has telegraphed a message to dissidents Orlando Luis Pardo ‏@OLPL, Yoani Sánchez @yoanisanchez, Rosa María Payá @RosaMariaPaya, and any others who were allowed to travel outside the country:
One week after returning to Cuba, Lady in White is missing after being beaten and arrested by Castro State Security

Yesterday, the Castro regime carried out its usual Sunday of violent repression against members of Cuba’s peaceful human rights group the Ladies in White when they joined together for Sunday church services as they do every Sunday. As the women stepped out of the church after Sunday mass in the town of Palma Soriano, they were met by Castro State Security agents who began to viciously punch them and beat them with umbrellas before placing them under arrest.

Among the Ladies in White victimized by the violence of the Castro dictatorship was Belkis Cantillo, a Lady in White who just a week ago was in Brussels to take part in the long overdue acceptance of the Sakharov Prize the group had won in 2005. Ms. Cantillo was one of the women who was beaten and arrested by the Castro political police before being arrested and taken away. As of this morning, her physical condition and whereabouts are unknown.

In record time, From Brussels to a Cuban Prison in just one week.

In Italy, Yoani Sánchez was “greeted” by this,

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Filed Under: Communism, Cuba Tagged With: Belkis Cantillo, Damas de Blanco, Fausta's blog, human rights, Ladies in White

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